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Future Ready

Sustainable Cities

Rapid urbanisation and population growth are putting huge demands on urban infrastructure and resource needs.

Managing that growth sustainably is one of the most significant issues of our generation.

Global trends of urbanisation, digitisation and sustainability affect both companies and individuals. Integrated city solutions together with emerging business models such as the circular economy will transform the way that our clients do business.

Key facts

Today, 3.5 billion or 50 per cent of the world’s population live in cities

By 2030, that figure will have risen to over 5 billion people or 60 per cent of the world’s population

By 2050, around 70 per cent of the world’s population is expected to live in cities

There are currently more than 800 cities with greater than one million inhabitants

Every three months, another city surpasses five million people

There are 21 megacities with over 10 million inhabitants in the world today

Nine more will evolve over the next 15 years

The value of the world’s existing infrastructure is $50 trillion, yet global demand for new infrastructure for the period 2015 - 2030 could amount to more than $90 trillion

Current infrastructure spending is around $2.5 - $3 trillion a year – only half the amounted needed to meet the nearly $6 billion average annual demand over the next 15 years

More than 60 per cent of this financing gap is likely to be concentrated in middle-income countries

Private investment currently accounts for up to half of total infrastructure spending.